GWENDOLEN MARY JOHN (1876-1939)

A Nun Seated at a Table

Paris, the 1910s

Black chalk on paper

324 X 235 MM

This drawing of an unknown nun is closely related to the series of portraits of Mère Poussepin Gwen John executed from 1913, one of which is shown in the Blue Gallery.

The artist worked from a prayer card showing the 17th-century sister with her hands on a book. The unknown sitter here adopts the same pose, allowing the artist to study the costume and the arrangement of her hands. John varies the pose further in the completed paintings, producing a series of variations typical of her obsessive approach to the single figure. Such images reflect the artist’s passionate religious faith as a Catholic convert.

Purchased 2009 (No. 2009.1)

WORKS ON PAPER

We show a rotating selection of works on paper in our two dedicated exhibition spaces.If you wish to view a work not currently on display, you can make an appointment to see it in the Prints and Drawings Study Room, which is equipped with viewing lecterns and a study/seminar table.

The study room is open to students, scholars and members of the general public, individually or in small groups, by prior appointment only. The room has tables and chairs to facilitate private study or seminars.